refectory
Americannoun
plural
refectoriesnoun
Etymology
Origin of refectory
1475–85; < Late Latin refectōrium, equivalent to Latin refec-, combining form of reficere to renew ( see refect) + -tōrium -tory 2
Explanation
A fancy word for a dining hall, or a place for communal meals, is a refectory. It is usually used to describe a dining hall in a religious institution, like where monks eat together. The word refectory comes from the Latin word reficere which means "to restore, renew." A meal together is a great way of restoring unity to a group. Nothing renews community like a great dinner, and the conversation that occurs around it. Lunch in your school's refectory? Maybe not so much.
Vocabulary lists containing refectory
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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Jane Eyre
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The oak refectory tables and benches, crafted by Robert "Mouseman" Thompson and featuring his trademark mice carvings, had been donated by former pupils.
From BBC • Nov. 23, 2025
What is the purpose of a room called a refectory?
From Slate • Dec. 18, 2023
There, in the abbey’s refectory, the colors of the 16th-century “Last Supper” fresco by Andrea del Sarto are still bright, unlike those of Leonardo’s famous “Last Supper” in Milan.
From Washington Post • Jun. 23, 2022
The painting, in oil on canvas, was commissioned by her own convent of Santa Caterina; once completed, it was hung on the nuns’ refectory wall.
From The Guardian • Oct. 19, 2019
At nights in the refectory we sit with our hands in our laps and stare at the radio, our small, harsh master.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
